Sprouts are tiny, but flavor is huge

By Tracy Hobson Lehmann :
March 1, 2013

For the gardener with a short attention span, microgreens are a perfect crop: Harvest comes about a week after sowing.

The tender shoots of plants such as broccoli, radishes and sunflowers are also tasty additions to salads and sandwiches, and growing the little sprouts doesn't require much space.

John Peterson of Wholesome Harvest Farm in Seguin raises daikon radish and sunflower sprouts in 10-by-20-inch nursery flats that are about 1½ inches deep. The plants typically are harvested at the cotyledon stage, when the first pair of leaves opens.

In winter, the seeds germinate in four or five days. In summer, it takes just two or three days.

Chefs deserve credit for bringing microgreens to the table, says Gil Frishman, a sprout guru and co-founder of San Francisco-based Sproutpeople. Frishman started growing microgreens in 1995 out of a fascination with seeds. In the past five or six years, he says, the edible shoots have become more popular.

Unlike sprouts, which are grown only in water, microgreens take root in soil, which can add to their flavor.

To grow microgreens at home, start with a shallow container with drain holes and fill with sterile potting mix. Frishman likes to set 4-inch square pots inside the nursery flat and plant them sequentially over several days for a longer harvest. He sprinkles about 2 teaspoons of seed over a 16- to 20-square- inch area.

That adds up to about 1,500 radish seeds per flat and about 750 sunflower seeds, Peterson estimates.

Peterson covers seeds with perlite and waters them daily. It's best to use a watering wand or a watering can with a sprinkler-type spout to avoid flooding the tray and washing the seeds out, he cautions.

He places the trays in partial shade, which encourages the plants to grow leggy as they reach for more light. They do best if the trays are protected with shade cloth.

The greens also can be grown in a bright spot indoors.

Frishman advocates presoaking some larger seeds, such as sunflowers, for best results. He offers directions on his website, sproutpeople.org.

At harvest time, snip with scissors just above the soil. Because the soil becomes a mass of roots, Peterson discards it in his compost pile, then cleans the tray before starting a fresh crop.

Deciding what to grow is a matter of personal taste. Radishes have a zing that Peterson says is a little like horseradish on a roast beef sandwich.

Radishes are also easy. “They grow bigger faster and have no problems for anyone,” Frishman says.

Arugula is another good choice. “Arugula is the best example of a seed that can grow in short order to an edible plant and have the flavor quality of the mature plant.” Frishman says. “An arugula plant that stands an inch tall even will taste just like arugula.”

Sunflower sprouts have a nutty, grassy flavor that makes them a good substitute for lettuce on sandwiches, Peterson says. “They make a great bacon, sprout and tomato sandwich,” he adds.

Ruben Barrera sprouts a mix of broccoli, red clover and radish hydroponically in glass jars at his Southeast Side home. “You can't compare it to another vegetable,” he says of the crispy sprouts.

Growing sprouts in a jar requires soaking the seeds for eight to 16 hours then placing them in a jar with a mesh screen over the top so the seeds can be rinsed every eight hours.

He uses filtered water for rinsing to avoid chlorine and other chemicals in tap water. After rinsing, he tilts the jar so excess water can drain. “If you do that, the sprouts will think they are in the ground and they will continue to grow,” he says.

Grown hydroponically, the sprouts need sunlight only on the last day of the five- to seven-day process to get their green color.

Barrera likes both the flavor and the health benefits of the tiny plants. “You're making vitamins at home ... And you've got vitamins that were created days ago and not sitting on a shelf for months and produced who knows where.”